Microlenses are primarily used for devices that require an optical focusing system, such as, for example, for cameras of mobile telephones. Because of the push for miniaturization, functional areas are to be smaller and smaller. The more the microlenses are to be miniaturized, the more difficult will be their optically correct production, since at the same time, there is an enormous cost pressure for the microlenses that are ideally to be produced in mass production. In the prior art, microlenses are produced on a carrier substrate by different production methods, as shown in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,846,137 B1, U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,623, U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,960 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,888. It is a common aspect of all previously-mentioned methods that, based on principle, a certain thickness is necessary and the light that goes through the microlens has to pass through not only the lens but the carrier substrate. Because of the simultaneously called-for high quality and the requirements for higher resolution with simultaneously higher brilliance, which depends on, i.e., the thickness and the number of optics along the optical axis, i.e., the beam path, another optimization of the microlenses according to the prior art is desirable.
Moreover, the requirement exists for as high a light yield as possible, which is decisive in particular for microoptics systems since, in most cases, the image sensor occupies a very small surface on which light can occur.
A production method for an unsupported microlens field is disclosed in EP 2 168 746 A1.
In the production of unsupported microlens fields, the shrinkage of the lens field material is problematic during the production of the lens field, in particular during embossing and curing.